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Cleveland Guardians prepare for home opener debut at Progressive Field

New logo and merchandise for Cleveland Guardians. [Gabriel Kramer/Ideastream Public Media]
New logo and merchandise for Cleveland Guardians. [Gabriel Kramer/Ideastream Public Media]

It is the start of a new era for professional baseball in Cleveland.  Last July, the team announced it would change its nickname to the Guardians beginning with this 2022 season.  The name change announcement came a little more than a year after the team said it would consider doing so. That announcement about considering a name change came in July 2020 came as the nation grappled with the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and the protests that followed nationwide.

The opening of this new Guardians season, though, had to be delayed for several weeks due to a protracted labor dispute that has now been resolved. Last week, in Kansas City, the team took the field as the Guardians for the first time in a regular season game.  On Friday, the Guardians will make their home opener debut against the San Francisco Giants.

The home opener arrives as the pandemic further recedes and finds people ready to enjoy the arrival of spring and warmer weather. (Well warm for Northeast Ohio anyway.)

Early voting has started in Ohio's May 3rd primary.  But the redistricting mess that has been bogged down in the state for months, continues to cause confusion for voters.

A federal appeals court in Ohio yesterday, turned down a request to have the winners in the congressional races in the May primary set aside and not be certified.  The challenge came from Black activists in Youngstown, with concerns over the new congressional district map that carves Ohio into 15 districts.  Those activists say the map being used for the primary gerrymanders the Youngstown region and deprives voters of color from selecting a candidate of their choice.  The Youngstown area in that map version leans Republican.

The map being used for the primary is the second version of the congressional map drawn in the redistricting process. It remains under legal challenge before the Ohio Supreme Court but it is being used for the purposes of this primary because the case will be decided after May 3. 

Also, undetermined, is when Ohio voters will decide on state house and state senate primary races.  Those contests were removed from the May ballot because of the ongoing challenges over the legislative district maps passed by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, but rejected by The Ohio Supreme Court. The justices have yet to weigh in on the fourth set of those maps.


  • Curtis Danburg, Vice President, Communications & Community Impact, Cleveland Guardians  
  • Cynthia Connolly, Executive Board Member, Lake Erie Native American Council 
  • Joe Scalzo, Sports Business Reporter, Crain's Cleveland Business 
  • Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV 

 

Leigh Barr is a coordinating producer for the "Sound of Ideas" and the "Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable."